International: United Nations
Natural disasters push millions into poverty each year
16 Nov 2016
Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and other extreme natural disasters push 26 million people into poverty each year and cost the global economy more than half a trillion dollars in lost consumption, the World Bank has said.
Marrakech nations wield carrots, not sticks
15 Nov 2016
Across the UN climate talks in Marrakech, countries are emphasising the benefits to the US of staying in the Paris Agreement.
Nations have one week to save Marrakech talks
14 Nov 2016
Climate diplomats in Marrakech are working furiously behind the scenes to send a message to Donald Trump that the world remains a place of pluralism and cooperation.
Other nations might obstruct Paris climate deal
14 Nov 2016
Concerns are mounting that Donald Trump’s victory could embolden some fossil fuel-rich countries to try unpicking the historic Paris climate agreement, which came into force last week.
American Muslims ditch fossil fuels investments
14 Nov 2016
As representatives of many of the world’s main religions join financial leaders in calling for a switch of investment from polluting energy to renewables, a prominent Islamic organisation says it will do just that, in a landmark divestment commitment from a Muslim institution.
PLEASE EXPLAIN: NZ under scrutiny in Marrakech
10 Nov 2016
New Zealand's progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions will come under international scrutiny at climate talks in Marrakech on Monday.
Marrakech climate talks have no Plan B
10 Nov 2016
Delegates gathered at the COP22 United Nations climate conference in Morocco did not expect a United States election upset.
Churches call for fossil fuel funds divestments
9 Nov 2016
The world’s churches – including some in New Zealand – are calling on governments to get their countries’ pension funds out of fossil fuels.
Climate change momentum begins today with Marrakech
8 Nov 2016
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech has started - just three days after the Paris Agreement entered into force.
The day the world shut the door on disaster
8 Nov 2016
PATRICIA ESPINOSA, UNFCCC Executive Secretary and SALAHEDDINE MEZOUAR, President of COP22 and Morocco Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation look at the UN climate conference which opened today in Marrakech:
Fossil fuel majors strut their stuff for Marrakech
8 Nov 2016
The oil industry has been in damage limitation mode ahead of this week’s climate change talks in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
Paris will not kill fossil fuels, says ex-Saudi oil chief
8 Nov 2016
The oil and gas industry will thrive despite the UN’s new greenhouse gas slashing pact, says former Saudi oil chief and lead climate negotiator Ali Al-Naimi.
What nations need to achieve in Marrakech
4 Nov 2016
The past 12 months have been a relatively good year for global climate policy. Next week, the world’s countries meet in Marrakech to follow up on the gains made at Paris last year and to try to reconcile these two facts.
US election outcome likely to dominate Marrakech summit
3 Nov 2016
After a year of celebrating the Paris climate agreement, the hangover is about to kick in for the 195 countries who helped to deliver the deal last December.
Paris goals at risk from new coal schemes
11 Oct 2016
Slowing down construction of coal-fired power stations will be vital to hit globally agreed climate change goals, says World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.
Climate treaty races toward hazy future
7 Oct 2016
With a speed almost unknown in the annals of diplomacy, the Paris Agreement on climate change is ready to come into force a bare 11 months after it was reached on December 12 last year.
Australia lags as Paris deal swings into action
7 Oct 2016
Australia is not alone in having not yet ratified the Paris Agreement. When all the EU member states have formally joined it will leave Chile, Israel, Japan, Turkey and Australia as the only OECD members on the outer.
Paris Agreement a turning point, says Obama
7 Oct 2016
US president Barack Obama has said the Paris climate deal could prove a “turning point” in the effort to avoid dangerous global warming.
Opposition slams Government carbon credits plan
6 Oct 2016
New Zealand’s plans to buy its way out of emissions reductions run foul of the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Opposition parties say.
NZ ratifies Paris Agreement
5 Oct 2016
New Zealand has ratified the Paris Agreement and the European Union is about to, pushing the global climate change treaty over the threshold to bring it into force.
India signs but readies for scrap in Marrakech
5 Oct 2016
India might have ratified the Paris Agreement at the weekend but has indicated it’s ready for a scrap at the forthcoming UN climate talks in Marrakech. | Read more
Canada will tax carbon emissions to meet Paris targets
5 Oct 2016
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will impose a tax on carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of its efforts to meet targets set by the Paris climate change accord.
EU (and others) will ratify Paris deal this week
3 Oct 2016
EU ministers this week are expected to ratify the Paris Agreement, along with India and Cananda, meaning enough countries will have signed up for the deal to come into legal force.
Russia in the slow lane on road to Paris
29 Sep 2016
What’s holding Russia back from ratifying the Paris climate agreement?
Poland threatens EU plan to ratify pact
29 Sep 2016
Poland has demanded the EU protect its plans to build new coal-fired power plants if it wants fast-track its ratification of the Paris climate agreement.
IPCC chair: We can meet 2deg target if we act fast
28 Sep 2016
INTERVIEW: Hoesung Lee was elected chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just one month before the landmark Paris climate talks of 2015.
Mali boosts Paris numbers
28 Sep 2016
Mali is the latest country to ratify the Paris Agreement – bringing the total number of countries to have ratified to 61, together responsible for 47.79 per cent of global emissions.
PARIS PACT: Morganists say NZ must sell units
23 Sep 2016
The Government must cancel all surplus carbon units it’s sitting on in 2020 as part of ratifying the Paris Agreement, says the group that wrote the Climate Cheats report.
PARIS PACT: Farmers play it short and sweet
23 Sep 2016
Federated Farmers has surprisingly little to say about the Paris Agreement – and that’s possibly a good sign for the climate.
PARIS PACT: Gen Zero does the job for MPs
23 Sep 2016
A group of twenty-somethings has fronted up to hardened politicians and told them not to worry, they’re drafting a Zero Carbon Act for them.
Countries rush to ratify Paris Agreement
22 Sep 2016
A host of countries has ratified the Paris Agreement overnight, pushing the climate change treaty past one of the thresholds that need to be met to bring it into force.
Three ways Trump could abandon Paris pact
20 Sep 2016
The possibility that a climate science denier could soon become America’s president is serving as an urgent motivator for diplomats in New York this week for United Nations meetings.
UN expects 20 nations to join pact this week
19 Sep 2016
At least 20 countries have indicated they will join the Paris climate change agreement at a United Nations event this week, raising hopes the deal will enter into force by the end of the year.
Brazil ratifies Paris Agreement (with promises)
14 Sep 2016
The Brazilian government has ratified its participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change, a significant step by Latin America’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases that could spur other countries to follow suit.
Amazon burns as Brazil signs Paris pledge
12 Sep 2016
Brazil’s new president, Michel Temer, will this week sign up to the Paris Agreement on climate change by committing Brazil to a reduction of 37 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and of 43 per cent by 2030.
Paris pact submissions will be heard this month
9 Sep 2016
Submissions on New Zealand’s plans to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change will be heard in Wellington on September 22.
Here’s what China and US just committed to on climate
9 Sep 2016
The leaders of the US and China committed their nations to the fight against global warming last weekend when they handed arcane but momentous documents to the United Nation’s top official.
Paris pact signing could be only weeks away
6 Sep 2016
New Zealand is likely to ratify the Paris Agreement in the next couple of months, the Government says.
China, US show the way but others must follow
5 Sep 2016
The decision by China and the US, the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, to ratify the landmark Paris accord on climate change heralds a new era of global cooperation on limiting emissions.
Ratification good news for carbon markets
5 Sep 2016
Ratification of the Paris Agreement by China and the United States is good news for the development of carbon markets, says the International Emissions Trading Association.
UN chief tolls bell for climate change sceptics
5 Sep 2016
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that climate change scepticism is over, the day after the United States joined China to ratify the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions.
Major nations not far off ratifying Paris pact
30 Aug 2016
The Bahamas is the latest country to ratify the Paris Agreement – and the United States, China and Brazil might not be far behind.
WHAT'S COOKING: Paris isn't the only game in town
30 Aug 2016
Luckily for the chances of avoiding global warming, the Paris climate deal isn’t the only game in town. Here’s a rundown of what else is cooking.
So the Paris deal enters into force, then what?
29 Aug 2016
Excitement is building over the likely entry into force of the UN’s climate deal – but that will only be the start of a new set of tricky negotiations.
Special report to scrutinise feasibility of 1.5deg
23 Aug 2016
The head of the United Nation’s climate body has called for a thorough assessment of the feasibility of the international goal to limit warming to 1.5deg.
Paris Agreement set to become law this year
19 Aug 2016
Fifty-seven countries accounting for 57.88 per cent of global emissions have now indicated they will ratify the Paris climate agreement before the end of 2016.
Global climate deal likely to enter into force this year
9 Aug 2016
A global agreement on climate change looks likely to enter into force this year, a new study shows.
Philippines turns back on Paris Agreement
19 Jul 2016
The Philippines will not honour commitments it made under the Paris climate change deal, says president Rodrigo Duterte.
UK, Germany betraying Paris deal, says UN
19 Jul 2016
The UN's climate change envoy has accused the UK and Germany of backtracking on the spirit of the Paris climate deal by financing the fossil fuel industry through subsidies.
Brexit will force EU to make deeper cuts
15 Jul 2016
Brexit will force the European Union’s remaining 27 countries to spend billions of euros on cutting carbon emissions more deeply to compensate for the UK leaving, according to experts.
Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, all states agree – except Queensland
Wed 13 May 2026
Power hungry datacentres that are growing to meet the demands of artificial intelligence could be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
Some inconvenient truths in bringing climate science to the judiciary
Today 11:45am
OPINION: Climate science had been knocking on the courthouse doors for quite some time when the Supreme Court of the United States finally invited it into the realm of legal action in 2007.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
Inequality causing 100,000 extra deaths a year from heat and cold in Europe
Tue 12 May 2026
Economic inequality adds more than 100,000 deaths to the vast toll from heat and cold in Europe each year, research has found.
Risk of drought in UK grows after unusually dry start to spring
Today 11:45am
The risk of drought is rising after an unusually dry start to spring has pushed river flow, groundwater and reservoir stores below normal levels across much of the country, especially in central and southern England.
Carbon capture ‘doesn’t work’: Former British Columbia premier
Fri 8 May 2026
Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell warned the costly, troubled technology has failed to deliver, undercutting a central justification for billions in public subsidies and new oil infrastructure.
While the world hesitates, India must continue leading on climate
Today 11:45am
India’s updated climate targets must translate into systems that secure growth, resilience, and autonomy.
How climate change threatens the economic backbone of the Pacific
4 May 2026
The vast Pacific Ocean and the islands dotted within it produce more than half of the world's tuna.
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
Mon 11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future
5 May 2026
Comment: Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
The country where lethal hantavirus cases are on the rise. Experts blame climate change
Wed 13 May 2026
Experts believe environmental degradation caused by climate change and human activity is contributing to its spread by allowing the rodents that transmit the virus to thrive in new areas.
